The wording on the plaque reads: “Cavendish Laboratory. 1874-1974. Established by the Duke of Devonshire and extended by Lord Rayleigh (1908) and Lord Austin (1940), the Cavendish Laboratory housed the Department of Physics from the time of the first Cavendish Professor, Jame Clerk Maxwell, until its move to new laboratories in West Cambridge.” From 1919 to 1937, the Director of the Cavendish Laboratory was Ernest Rutherford.
Under the plaque recalling Rutherford’s Cavendish Laboratory, spare a thought for his leading of the Academic Assistance Council, a body set up to help scientists fleeing Nazi Germany. And spare another thought for people who need that body’s help today. With the name CARA — the Council for At-Risk Academics — it is still going strong and has, alas, still got work to do.
